| 1997 Supercopa Libertadores 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana João Havelange | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Dates | 15 June – 17 December |
| Teams | 17 (from 6 confederations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  River Plate (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  São Paulo |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 60 |
| Goals scored | 187 (3.12 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Ivo Basay(8 goals) |
The 1997 Supercopa Libertadores was the tenth and final season of the Supercopa Libertadores, a club football tournament for past Copa Libertadores winners.
Vasco da Gama were admitted to the tournament for the first time in recognition of winning the South American Championship of Champions in 1948. Argentinos Juniors did not take part. River Plate won the competition for the first time, defeating São Paulo 2–1 on aggregate in the final.
For its final season, the format of the first round was changed from a two-legged knockout round to four groups of four teams playing each other twice. As 17 teams were scheduled to take part, a preliminary round was played to eliminate one team.
As through the successive editions of this cup were added new champions from the Copa Libertadores, in 1997 the Conmebol decided that the last teams of each group would descend to reduce the number of teams to disputed it. That year descended Velez Sarsfield, Racing Club and Boca Juniors (all teams from Argentina) and Gremio (Brazil).
Teams
;Notes
- Argentina (ARG):
- Argentinos Juniors (1985 Copa Libertadores champions) was not qualified due to be on Primera B Nacional a season before.
Preliminary round
The matches were played from 15 June to 13 July.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasco da Gama |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | First round |
| 2 |  Peñarol |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 5 | |
| 3 | Nacional |
4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Group stage
The matches were played from 26 August to 30 October.
Group 1
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colo-Colo |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 11 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Cruzeiro |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 9 | |
| 3 | Independiente |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Boca Juniors |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 5 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Group 2
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Paulo |
6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 8 | +7 | 11 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Flamengo |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 10 | |
| 3 |  Olimpia |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 6 | |
| 4 | Vélez Sarsfield |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 13 | −7 | 5 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Group 3
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | River Plate |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 9 | +8 | 15 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Vasco da Gama |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 10 | |
| 3 | Santos |
6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 11 | 12 | −1 | 7 | |
| 4 | Racing |
6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 2 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Group 4
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Atlético Nacional |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 10 | Semifinals |
| 2 | Peñarol |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3 | Estudiantes |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 | |
| 4 | Grêmio |
6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 11 | −2 | 6 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Knockout phase
In the knockout phase, the four group winners played a single-elimination tournament. Each tie was played on a home-and-away two-legged basis.
Bracket
| Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | River Plate
| 2 | 1 | 3 | |||||||||
| 4 | Atlético Nacional
| 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| São Paulo
| 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| River Plate
| 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 3 | São Paulo
| 3 | 1 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2 | Colo-Colo
| 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
Semifinals
The matches were played on 5 November, 6 November, 26 November and 27 November.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo |
4–1 | Colo-Colo |
3–1 | 1–0 |
| River Plate |
3–2 | Atlético Nacional |
2–0 | 1–2 |
Finals
The matches were played on 5 November, 6 November, 26 November and 27 November.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| São Paulo |
1–2 | River Plate |
0–0 | 1–2 |
| São Paulo | 0–0 | River Plate |
|---|---|---|
| River Plate | 2–1 | São Paulo |
|---|---|---|
Salas  46' 58' |
53' Dodô |
River Plate won 2–1 on aggregate.
| 1997 Supercopa Sudamericana winners |
|---|
River Plate First title |
Top goalscorers
| Pos | Name | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivo Basay |
Colo-Colo |
8 |
| 2 | Marcelo Salas |
River Plate |
7 |
| 3 | Dodô |
São Paulo |
5 |
| 4 | Martín Fúriga |
Estudiantes |
4 |
| Marcelo Ramos |
Cruzeiro | ||
| Sávio |
Flamengo | ||
| Martín Vilallonga |
Racing |